While Noah’s story appears in several different cultures and is part of a number of key religious texts, Russel Crowe’s film is a Biblical interpretation of the core material. But this is a Darren Aronofsky film first and foremost, which means that he took certain creative liberties. Perhaps the most obvious is the inclusion of the “Watchers,” a race of giant rock creatures who work on behalf of God. Aronofsky also makes some bold decisions, such as showing Noah in a drunken stupor and depicting Tubal-cain (Ray Winstone), an individual who didn’t come across Noah in the Bible, as its villain.
Decisions like these may have come across as controversial to certain audience members. Upon release, the film received both positive and negative reception from Christians. Ray Comfort, a Christian filmmaker and evangelist, was notably critical of the creative liberties taken by “Noah.” Kevin Ham, the president of Answers in Genesis and the future Ark Encounter, called the movie an “insult to Bible-believing Christians, an insult to the character of Noah and, most of all, an insult to the God of the Bible” in an op-ed written for TIME.
The film was banned in several countries despite being watched by so many. China and several Muslim nations such as Qatar, the UAE, and Bahrain banned the picture. People from these Muslim countries were particularly concerned about how the prophet Noah was depicted. It should be noted that the Bible and Quran, the holy text for Muslims, have different interpretations of Noah and his Ark.
“Noah” is streaming on Netflix in the United States.
